Why are people across the U.S.struggling to afford a decent place to call home?

Housing Insecurity

America's growing challenge

In communities across the United States, rents are rising, wages are stagnating and working families are struggling more than ever to afford a decent place to call home. As a result, a record number of families are barely scraping by, living just one unforeseen event away from disaster. They are the face of America's growing housing insecurity crisis. They are the families Enterprise aims to help.

The Research

What we know

Nearly 19 million low-income U.S. households pay over half of their income on housing, and more than 600,000 people have no home at all. Not only does housing insecurity make it difficult for these families to move out of poverty, but its side effects ripple through other aspect of their lives and communities.

At Enterprise, we know that it can be difficult to find information that directly addresses housing insecurity. In this section, you will find curated resources and research to help you learn about this crisis and its impact on society. Learn More

Coast to coast

A Challenge across communities

Who is housing insecure?

Explore the data

VIEW BY

FAMILY TYPE

INCOME

SENIORS

HOME OWNERSHIP

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

RACE

HISPANIC/ LATINO

VETERAN STATUS

In communities across the United States, rents are rising, wages are stagnating and working families are finding it harder to afford a decent place to call home. As a result, a record number of families are barely scraping by, living just one unforeseen event away from disaster. On any given night, there are more than 600,000 people in the U.S. living on the streets or in homeless shelters. Nearly a quarter of them are children. A much larger group—more than 19 million households—pay more than half of their monthly income on housing, often leaving them one paycheck away from losing their homes and facing impossible choices, such as whether to pay rent or buy groceries. Together, these families are the face of America’s growing housing insecurity crisis.

Use the interactive graph at the right to find out how this crisis is affecting different types of households in the U.S.

People

STORIES OF PERSEVERANCE AND LIFE-CHANGING OPPORTUNITIES

Housing insecurity ends with homes that are Affordable to low-income families; Available in markets where the supply gap is growing; Healthy, well-designed and sustainable; and Connected to good schools, jobs, transit and health care. It can be done: Here are some success stories.

A Solution

OUR PLAN TO END HOUSING INSECURITY

A five-pronged strategy drives our goal to end housing insecurity. As a down payment on our goal, by 2020 Enterprise has committed to provide opportunity to 1 million low-income families through quality affordable housing and connections to good schools, jobs, transit and health care.

The Enterprise family includes Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., a national Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Financing is offered though tax-exempt subsidiaries, Enterprise Community Loan Fund, Inc., and Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. Housing development is offered through a related entity, Enterprise Homes, Inc., a 501(c)(3). Asset management is offered by our for-profit company Enterprise Community Asset Management, Inc. Additional financing is offered through Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital, LLC. The content on this website reflects information about all of these. See our Terms of Use for more information.